See What Happens?
by BabyGrlKatie14
Summary: Colin dies and things change in Everwood. Forever. Full summary inside in the AN.
1. In The Beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Well, later on there will be a bunch that I do own. But that's not until _much_ later. For now I don't own the characters so please don't sue me. Unless… okay never mind, I won't get into that.

**Chapter 1: In The Beginning**

*****

[A/N: Okay, this is the 'revamped' version of 'The Aftermath'. It totally sucked, so I took it off, and now I'm editing it. I'm making it _way_ better. A warning to those of you who read it before, when I said editing it, I meant MAJOR editing. I'll be adding, taking out, and changing stuff. Including parts of the plot!]

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Amy Abbott heard the phone ringing in the distance, but she didn't really care. She was really tired, and it was nice and warm in her bed. Answering the phone would mean getting up and walking all the way across the room. 

Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Fine, I give up," Amy muttered to herself, as she got out of her bed to answer the phone.

"Hello?" Amy said groggily. 

"Oh, good Amy. I wasn't sure if you were going to answer." The voice sounded familiar, but Amy's sleepy mind just couldn't place it. Thankfully, Amy didn't need to respond. The voice continued to speak. "I just wanted to call to let you know that Colin is out of surgery." This time the voice spoke with almost undetectable pain. Almost.

Then suddenly in all clicked in Amy's head. _Oh my god, how could I have forgotten Colin's surgery was today?_ A rush of questions hit Amy at once. " Oh, Mrs. Hart, I'm sorry. I didn't recognize you're voice at first."

"That's alright dear."

"So, how is he? Is he alright? Can I come see him? When will he be home?" As Amy said those words, she heard Mrs. Hart begin to sob on the other end. "Mrs. Hart? Is everything alright?"

"No. Amy, honey, something happened during the surgery. Colin didn't make it." Mrs. Hart was full out crying now. 

Amy was in shock. Was her boyfriend really dead? Could it really be true? It had to be. Mrs. Hart wouldn't do something like this otherwise. "Okay, thanks for letting me know." Amy said absently before hanging up. 

Amy walked over to her bed and sat down. She needed time to think. _There has to be some kind of mistake. Any minute now they'll call back and say that they made a horrible mistake, and that Colin is fine. But big hospitals don't make those kinds of mistakes. _The rational side of her brain argued.At that moment her phone rang again. She jumped up of her bed and practically ran across her room to answer it. 

"Hello?" 

"Amy?" It was Ephram.

"Oh it's you." Amy was disappointed that her irrational side was wrong.

"I thought it was only your brother that thought of me that way," Ephram said with a slight laugh.

"Well, it's more that just Bright, but I'm sorry. I thought it was going to be someone else."

"Okay. Well, my dad just called me. He told me what happened and that Mrs. Hart just called you. I just wanted to make sure that you were alright."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll see you in school tomorrow Ephram." And with that Amy hung up on Ephram. 

All Ephram could do was stare at the phone. He couldn't believe what he had heard. Amy's boyfriend just died and she seemed fine with it. She wasn't crying and she didn't need comforting. _How can she be so calm about it? When mom died I was a mess._

When Amy didn't show up for school the next day, Ephram knew something was wrong. As soon the last bell rang he got on his bike and rode right to her house. He knocked on the door and Bright answered.

"Amy, doesn't want company right now," Bright stated before moving to close the door.

"I don't care. I need to talk to her!" Ephram yelled through the closing door.

"This had better be good, because she'll be mad. And you've never seen her when she's mad, it's not pretty," Bright said while reopening the door to allow the younger boy inside the house.

"Actually, I have seen her when she's mad, and I'll take my chances. Is she in her room?" Ephram replied.

"Yeah," Bright said then turned and went back to watching Spongebob Squarepants. 

Ephram went up the stairs, turned the corner, and knocked on Amy's bedroom door.

"G-go aw-ay," Amy sobbed through the door.

"Amy, it's Ephram I came to see if you're okay. You weren't in school today. I figured something was wrong."

Silence.

"Amy, the door's open. I'm coming in."

"N-no Ephram d-don't come in." But Amy was too late.

He had already entered and closed the door behind him. Now he was standing behind her. She was standing by the door facing the opposite wall, her head in her hands. He reached up and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Suddenly, she spun around and put her head on his shoulder and finally began to really cry. Ephram tried awkwardly to comfort her.

"Amy, it's alright."

"No. No, it's not. He's dead Ephram. Colin's dead, and I never got to say goodbye. Oh never mind you wouldn't understand."

Ephram fought back his anger. _I wouldn't understand? God, I'm here because I_ do_ understand. _But it didn't matter right then. Amy was in pain and that was all that really mattered. He had gone over this hundreds of times in his mind but it wasn't going quite the way he had planned.

"Amy, it all okay now. I'm here. Go ahead and cry. I'll listen to you if you want or I'll just sit with you. It's alright."

"Oh Ephram thank you! You're such a good friend."

She was hugging him now. Ephram couldn't help the smile that came across his face. Now this, this had been part of the plan. He led her over to sit on the side of the bed. They just sat there for a long time. Talking. Talking about everything, teachers, classes, the kids in the school, school itself, their friends, Ephram's life before Everwood, Amy's life when he wasn't there, that was when Colin came up again. They had been trying to avoid the topic. Ephram didn't want to make Amy cry again. That didn't work either.

"Amy please don't cry. Please," he started rubbing her back trying to calm her down. "Amy. Amy, look at me."

When she looked up he couldn't speak. She had this innocent look to her, and the tears really added to it. She looked so helpless. He just sat there staring at her for a moment. Then he leaned over and kissed her. He couldn't help himself. Finally, Amy broke the kiss. _I can't believe he just kissed me. I can't believe I kissed back, I mean Colin just DIED. I don't like him. I can't! But he's been so nice today. He sat with me all day talking, and laughing, and making me feel better. And he does look really cute today. No. NO! I can't think like that. Wait is he talking again? I really need to pay more attention to things like this. _

"I'm sorry Amy I shouldn't have done that. I should probably go now."

"No, really, it's okay. Please. Stay."

"No really I've gotta go. Your dad will be home soon. If he catches me in here I'm dead. Plus Bright is downstairs so if I don't go soon he'll come up here after me."

"Your right. I just- never mind."

"What?"

"No, it's nothing, I'll see you later."

"Okay. Bye Amy." 

*****

[A/N: Okay, that's all for now. I promise I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. But for now, see that pretty little purple button? Why don't all of you out there use it to let me know what you think.]


	2. Together At Last

Chapter 2: Together At Last 

*****

Ephram wanted to catch up with Amy the next day at lunch. He wanted to talk to her about what had happened, but he was afraid of getting hurt, physically and mentally, so he decided that he'd wait until Amy said something.

"Hey!" Amy called, walking over to where Ephram was seated.

He nodded in her general direction. [A/N: Typical male! I hate it when they do that. It's irritating.]

"So ummm… about last night. Uhhh… I hope that you didn't think too much of that. I was in a bad place and I was vulnerable. You helped me a lot, but I need time to get over Colin. I hope that's alright."

Ephram felt his heart drop. He loved Amy. He wanted to tell her; he wanted to tell the world. Instead he merely gulped and replied. "Oh yeah sure. Whatever." He said stuffing his hands in his pockets and becoming fascinated by his shoes.

"Oh and I was wondering if you would come to the funeral. It's on Saturday. I know you met him like once and he was in a coma then but it would mean a lot to me if you would come."

Unfortunately Ephram had managed to fill his mouth seconds before Amy finished so he nodded at her.

"Is that all you can do today?" Amy asked a little annoyed.

"No. My mouth was full," he said seriously.

"Uh-huh," she said with a laugh. Then she got up and left because lunch was over.

He followed her out to the hallway where their lockers were. He fished around in his locker looking for his chemistry book without any success. The bell rang for classes to start again and Ephram lingered behind, waiting for the halls to clear.

When they did he whirled around and slammed he head into the nearest locker. He couldn't believe how stupid he had been. _Amy wants time to get over Colin? Well, that's just peachy. What the hell does she expect me to do? Twiddle my thumbs until she's ready? I'm in love with her, but obviously I can't tell her that now! And how in all hell can she be so damn perky? Good God, boyfriend just died!_ Little did he know that her happiness was a mask. Inside she was dying, a slow and painful death.

Ephram couldn't stand the thought of suffering through Chemistry and Gym right then. So he went back to his locker, put away his books, took out his backpack and Discman, [A/N: Who the hell comes up with these names?] and walked outside to the bike rack.

Ephram had forgotten what CD he had stuck in the player that morning until the music started. It was Good Charlotte's "The Young and the Hopeless." He had originally gotten the CD because he liked the title, he thought it was rather funny. But after he had listened through he thought it was pretty good. So he hit the random button and waited to see what would play.

_If you want me to wait I would wait for you _

_If you want me to stay I would stay right through _

_If you don't wanna say anything at all I'm happy wondering_

"How appropriate," he said with a laugh. 

_This world _

_This world is cold _

_But you don't _

_You don't have to go _

_You're feeling sad _

_You're feeling lonely _

_And no one seems to care _

_You're mother 's gone and father hits you _

_This pain you cannot bare _

_But we all bleed the same way as you do _

_And we all have the same things to go through _

_Hold on… if you feel like letting go _

_Hold on… it gets better than you know_

"Jeez… another extremely appropriate song."

_All the things we talk about _

_You know they stay on my mind _

_On my mind _

_All the things we laugh about _

_They'll bring us through it every time _

_After time _

_After time _

_Don't say a word _

_I know you feel the same _

_Just give me a sign _

_Say anything _

_Say anything _

_Please don't walk away _

_I know you wanna stay _

_Just give me a sign _

_Say anything _

_Say anything _

_Some say that time changes _

_Best friends can become strangers _

_But I don't want that _

_No not for you_

"Now that's just too freakin' creepy! It's almost like it can pick out the songs I need to hear," he said getting on his bike and riding away.

*****

That Saturday Ephram showed up late, which was a tendency in the Brown family, to the funeral. He ended up sitting in the back so that he wouldn't attract too much attention to his tardiness. It turned out to be a good thing to because otherwise he would have missed seeing Amy run out the door. He followed her.

"Amy, Amy wait!" he called after her once he was outside.

She turned around to see who was calling her. She had tears streaming down her cheeks, her face was blotchy, and her mascara was everywhere. And yet to him, she was beautiful. She ran to him and started to sob into his shoulder.

"Oh Ephram, I couldn't take it. It was too much. To see the coffin, and all the people that loved him, and the people from school came, and it was so overwhelming. I had to get out, I had to escape, but no one understands," she told him.

"Amy, it's alright. I know what you're going through, I understand. Remember I was in the same boat not too long ago. In fact I did the same thing. I ran out of my mother's funeral, just like you're running out of Colin's. So come on, we'll go somewhere, get something to eat, talk. I'm sure Mrs. Hart will understand," he said first rubbing her back then taking her hand in his when she pulled back to look at him.

"Okay," she said steadily looking into his eyes.

"Let's go!"

*****

"So as you see, my father sucks at consoling people." Ephram said to end his story. The two of them were now sitting in Mama Joy's eating French fries, and talking 

"You on the other hand, are just the opposite." Amy said taking his hand.

"Amy I think we need to talk."

"Well, what have we been doing for the past three hours?" she asked before seeing the seriousness in his eyes. There was another, stronger emotion there too, but she couldn't place it. She had never seen it in anyone's eyes before, and it scared her to se such a strong emotion coming from a 15- year-old.

"Amy, I love you. I have for a while now. I know that you probably don't feel the same, and you need time to get over all that's happened, but I really needed to tell you. I just couldn't keep it inside anymore."

"Wow," was all that she could manage at first, but eventually she found the words to explain how she felt. "You're right, I do need time to get over Colin, but with you by my side it will go by faster than without you," she said kissing him on the cheek, which of course made him blush, badly.

"Does that make you my girlfriend?" he asked, unsure.

"Yes, I suppose it does," she replied with a smile.

*****

Ephram was riding his bike home alone from school a few days later. He would have been with Amy but she had a dance lesson that day, and he would have waited but if he didn't get home and either make dinner or order take out, Delia would try to eat either cereal or something their father had cooked and stuck in the refrigerator, and he would be blamed.

As he was riding, Bright pulled up next him in his truck. Bright slowed down and eventually stopped. As Ephram went to follow suit, Bright got out of the truck, so in turn Ephram got off his bike. Once he got close enough Bright punched Ephram in the face. The smaller boy fell to the sidewalk. He had never been punched so hard in his life.

"That's for Colin," Bright said. "How could you be so damn inconsiderate? Taking my best friends girlfriend who also happens to be my sister! Did you really think you'd get away with it? Well guess what, you didn't! You're really gonna get it."

Ephram tried to stand, but was knocked flat again by a blow to the stomach. He vomited up the contents of his stomach. He didn't know how much more he could take.

"You can bet that Colin will be after you too once he finds out what you've done." Bright said with smug look on his face.

"Dude, Colin's dead." Ephram said weakly.

"Yeah, whatever." Bright planted a last firm kick in Ephram's side, laughed at the boy sprawled on the sidewalk, got back into his truck, and drove away.

*****

"Ephram what happened? You're a mess!" Dr. Brown sounded genuinely worried, and he was. But his son didn't buy it for a second._ Right, you care. That's a good one! Why are you home anyway? Shouldn't you be out saving the residents of Everwood from the sniffles?_

"Yeah, like you care." Ephram said still feeling very weak.

"Of course I do. I'm you're father."

"Whatever," the boy said walking up the stairs.

*****

"So Amy, you want to get together tonight? You know get dinner, see a movie, somin' like that." Ephram asked his east coast roots showing through.

It had only been a few hours since her brother had attacked him, but he needed to see her, to hold her.

"Ummm… yeah, sure!" Amy seemed exited despite her hesitation.

"Great… I'll come get you now and we can walk around downtown, find something to do."

"Yeah, I'll see you in what fifteen minutes?"

"'Bout that."

"Ok, bye."

"Bye."

*****

"Oh my god, Ephram what happened to you?" Amy asked concern in her eyes and voice.

"Nothing. I'm fine," he said wincing when she hugged him.

"Right, you're fine, and yet, you have the worst black eye I've ever seen, a cut on your lip and in your eyebrow, and you just winced when I hugged you. Now, you're lying to me and I want to know why!"

_Amy's so cute when she's pissed!_

"You're right I'm lying to you but it's for your own good so can we drop it?" Ephram said kissing her so she couldn't argue. But when they finished, argue she did.

"We can't drop this. I need to know who did this to you." Amy said defiantly, looking into his eyes, her arms around his neck.

"I'm not telling you. I told you it's for your own good."

"It was Bright wasn't it? That's why you're not telling me, so you can protect me from knowing how much of a moron he is. But Ephram Brown I've lived with the boy all my life so there's no protecting me from that, I already know." Amy said shaking her head, her blonde hair swaying behind her.

"Actually the reason I'm not telling you is because he said that I can't take you from Colin and that Colin will be coming after me too." Ephram was worried how Amy would take it. Her brother might be stupid but he's not that stupid.

"Oh I know, he hasn't accepted Colin's death yet. Mom and Dad are sending him to therapy to quote 'help him recover.' I don't think it'll help. He and Colin were close. Probably closer than Colin and me."

"What that supposed to mean?"

"Never mind. Lets go!"

*****

[A/N: And that's it for this chapter. Please review. Let me know what you think so far.]


	3. Trouble In Paradise

Chapter 3:Trouble in Paradise 

*****

Ephram walked into the school, late as usual, to find a girl trying to break into the empty locker next to his. 

"Can I help you?" he asked cautiously. He had never seen this girl before in his life. 

The girl looked over at him with a look of intense concentration on her face. She didn't know who he was, and she didn't care as long as he could get her locker to open. _He is hot though._ "Well, I'm new here. So I went to the office and they gave me my locker number and my homeroom and all that crap. But I came here to my locker to put my sweatshirt away, and I can't get the damn thing to open."

"Let me try," Ephram said. "What's your combination?"

"20- 36- 26" 

"First you try the numbers they give you." Ephram spun the lock around to the various numbers and tried to open it. It didn't budge. "Then you try hitting it at the top and bottom, sometimes it gets stuck." He kicked it hard at the bottom, hit it once at the top, and then pulled hard on the handle. It still didn't work. "Okay, as a last resort, throw things at it. Big heavy books work the best." Ephram pulled his Geometry book out his backpack and walked across the hall. "Watch out." He then threw the book across the hall so it collided with the stubborn locker. It popped open. 

"Thanks. I think I would have resorted to that eventually, but unfortunately my aim isn't quite that good. What's you're name anyway?" 

"Ephram Brown. What's yours?"

"Jordan Green."

*****

Ephram sat on his bed writing in his journal. When he first got it he had wondered what he was supposed to do. Was he supposed to write in it like he was writing a letter? What was he supposed to call it? Diary? That sounded too girly. Eventually he figured it out.

Dear Journal,

There's a new girl in school. She's in my homeroom, most of my classes, and has the locker next me. Her name is Jordan Green. She's from Boston. What attracts people to this hellhole anyway? I mean people just keep coming. First my family, now hers. It's sorta pretty I suppose, but that's not the point I was making. Anyway getting back on the subject. You know what she asked me today? If I'd ever been out east. Nope. Never. I JUST LIVED THERE FOR 15 FREAKIN' YEARS! But you know what, she's gorgeous! She's about my height with the most beautiful brown hair. It falls right below her shoulders in this really, pretty, soft curls. And her eyes are a beautiful greenish-blue color. She's unbelievable. She has every guy in school all over her, even that moron Bright. My only problem with Jordan is Amy. I love Amy. She's beautiful. She's my girlfriend. But Jordan, Jordan is a knockout. I get nervous when I talk to her like I'm gonna get caught or something. Oh well. If you figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do, let me know, 'cuz I sure as hell don't have a clue. Wait, what am I saying? You're a freakin' piece of paper. You can't answer me. 

Ephram

*****

Amy sat at her desk, typing her diary entry for the day. Almost every other girl in the history of Everwood wrote her diary down in a notebook of some kind. But Amy always found the computer easier. Especially since she had her own computer in her room. Not to mention the fact that her brother was too stupid to figure out how to get into the password protected file. 

Dear Diary,

I officially hate myself. I can' t believe it. I love Ephram! But it's _so_ soon after Colin's death. I feel really guilty. But I think that I was falling in love with him before Colin died. I think I fell for him when I first met him. I don't know. I'm so confused!

~Amy~

*****

Jordan had just had the best first day of school of her life. She had met and befriended, the hottest boy in school.

Dear Diary,

I just moved to Everwood. I thought that it would be really boring. And well it is. But there's this guy (there's always a guy!) Our lockers are right next to each other and stuff like that. Ephram Brown. At least I think that's what he said his name was. He's soooo cute! He's like my height, with reddish- brown hair (it looks purple in the right light) and the most amazing eyes (they look greenish- gray to me, but what do I know). I hope he doesn't have a girlfriend. (If he doesn't then every girl in this town must be blind because he's the hottest guy in town.) And if he does too bad for her. He's mine!

*J*

*****

"Hi Ephram!" Jordan said a little too brightly.

"Jordan, how in hell can you be so damn perky? It's 7:30 in the freakin' morning. I'm being punished aren't I? Someone save me!" Ephram said sticking his head in his locker, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Yes my dear you are being punished. I was on the cheerleading squad in Boston. I got a little too much practice at being perky. Now it's second nature. Actually come to think of it I' m the one being punished," she half- laughed at the thought. "Hmmph…typical. I lost my Chemistry book… again! Oh… wait… no here it is." Jordan said looking through her locker that looked like a bomb had exploded inside it. "What the hell is this?" she asked herself pulling out something that looked suspiciously like an old sandwich.

"So you're not perfect," Ephram mumbled under his breath while looking into her locker over her shoulder.

"I heard that!" Jordan said over her shoulder.

"Shit," he said more quietly.

"I heard that too!" The girl laughed at his foolishness.

"Oh shut up, I'm going to class without you now," he said becoming frustrated.

"No, wait I'll get lost!" she pleaded at him.

"Alright, but hurry up, I need to meet Amy!" He was still frustrated

"Can I meet her? Can I? Huh? Huh? Huh?" Jordan's cheerleading roots were showing through again

"That whole perky cheerleader routine is beginning to get on my nerves."

"Too Bad! I live through it all day, try that, then you can complain."

"Amy this Jordan, she new here, and thoroughly irritating. Jordan this is Amy, " Ephram said as he leaned over to kiss Amy's cheek.

"His girlfriend," Amy giggled. She held out one hand for Jordan shake. With the other she swatted Ephram in the stomach.

"What? It's obvious. Plus you told the whole school didn't you?" Ephram asked Amy.

"No, I just told Kayla and few other people."

"Same thing," he mumbled

He got another playful hit for that comment. Jordan stood there looking at the couple. He wasn't kidding when he said that it was obvious that they were a couple. She was rather jealous of Amy at moment, so she took advantage of the timing.

"Alright Romeo, lets go. If we don't hurry we'll be late for class."

"Coming Wendy. Bye Grover," he said and as he leaned to kiss her the bell rang.

"You're timing sucks Ham. Bye," Amy gave him quick kiss on the cheek and left.

"Wait, Ham, Grover?" Jordan asked, obviously confused.

"Nicknames. I don't generally go by mine since Amy is the only one that calls me that. And I usually don't use Grover since most people don't call her that either, I mostly did that to display the whole nickname thing, but whatever. You'll get one too, " he explained.

"Oh joyous day! Wait Wendy?" she was still confused.

"I give up!" he said

They both laughed and walked into class still laughing, getting strange looks from everyone. Neither one cared.

*****

Amy was late to school that day. Everyone else thought she was absent. That was probably how Ephram got into the predicament he was in. But no, Amy was just late. Oh how she wished she had been on time. If she had none of it would have happened, and she wouldn't have had to watch.

*

Jordan had noticed that Amy wasn't in school the next day. She found it to be the perfect opportunity to execute her perfect plan. But it would go wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong.

"Hey, umm… Ephram can you come with me to the library. I need help with my uhhh… Algebra homework," Jordan said innocently.

"Huh, oh yeah sure. Sorry, I was looking for Amy. Have you seen her?" he asked groggily as it was still early in the morning.

"No, but I think I heard, Kayla or someone, say she was sick," she replied, leading Ephram towards the school library.

"Oh, really? Okay, I'll have to call at lunch and see how she's doing."

"So I heard you say something about Algebra," Ephram said starting to wake up.

"Well, actually, I just said that to get you to come here. I really need help with my Chemistry," she said moving closer to him.

"You don't take Chemistry," he stated obviously confused.

"Not that Chemistry silly, this one…"

Jordan closed her eyes and leaned in and kissed him lightly. She felt Ephram begin to return the kiss. At that moment he forgot completely about Amy. He rested his hands on her hips while she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, intertwining her fingers into his dark hair. She licked her lips quickly, hoping he'd get the point she was trying to make. He did and opened his mouth to slide his tongue into hers.  She liked the feel of his warm mouth against hers, and he tasted like peppermint toothpaste.

*

What they didn't know was that they were being watched. Amy had finally arrived at school and couldn't find Ephram anywhere. She had decided to check the library in case he was there finishing some homework or something. What she saw made her want to both cry hysterically, and whack him over the head with a frying pan, very hard, multiple times. He was standing there kissing that new Katlyn girl. Amy was in a state of shock for the second time that month. He had said that he loved her! But if that was true, how could he kiss another girl like that? She was so confused. She wanted to run away, but her feet wouldn't cooperate. She felt like she was rooted to the spot.

*****

[A/N: And now the fun begins. I know I'm going to have fun with this. I can just see it now. Okay, I won't get into it… yet. Please review.]


	4. Picking Up The Pieces

Chapter 4: Picking Up The Pieces 

*****

Amy finally saw Ephram pull away. She was relieved but she didn't go over to talk to him yet; she didn't have her emotions under control yet and didn't trust herself not to beat the crap out of him or break down in front of him. Then she saw Jordan lean over again.

"See you later Ephram," Jordan whispered into his ear.                            

"Huh? Oh… bye," Ephram seemed to be in a kind of trance.

Jordan started to walk away and bumped into Amy. Amy had been standing at the end of a row of books, glaring evilly at the brunette.

"Ephram you've got ummm… company," Jordan yelled over her shoulder, and then she left as fast as she could.

Ephram looked up and saw his girlfriend walking towards him with a death glare and what appeared to be a large book.

"Oh shit!" he said to no one in particular. "Amy, exactly how much did you see?" he asked.

He walked towards her with his arms half out like he was going to hug her. She put the book up in front of her to stop him.

"I saw enough to have to pick up this really big book if I need to whack you."

"Amy, she kissed me. I swear."

He knew she was angry, and hurt, and he would have done anything to change it. He wished he wasn't the cause of that hurt but he knew he was. It made him want to cry knowing that, but he was a man. Crying was not allowed.

"Uh-huh. So you were forced to kiss back?"

"Well no, but." his voice trailed off. He didn't know what to tell her. "Amy please don't be angry with me."

"Don't be angry! What am I supposed to be? Happy?"

She hit him in the arm with the book, but her heart wasn't in it. She knew she had tears in her eyes. She wanted to get out of there before she broke down.

"Amy, wait, don't leave."

She could hear the hurt in his voice. He was about to break down too. But she didn't care.

"Screw you!" was all she said before she left him completely alone.

*****

Ephram was not having a good day. He hadn't had breakfast, due to his father's poor cooking skills. Then he'd been caught in the library, kissing someone other than Amy. He had managed to loose his English homework in the space of two hours, and had accidentally slammed his hand in his locker trying to get it to close properly. By lunch he was ready to bash someone's head in. And, of course, that was the moment Jordan chose to talk to him.

"Ephram?" she asked timidly. She really wasn't one to be timid, she had grown up in Boston after all, but right then he seemed overpowering.

"Not now," he said, not even bothering to find out who it was.

"But Ephram it's important," she knew she was pleading with him but she didn't care.

He turned to find out who was disturbing him and found Jordan behind him. He nearly exploded with anger.

"Jordan, I really don't care what you have to say. I don't want to hear it. You kissed me, left me there, and then got me in trouble with Amy. She still won't talk to me. And now you want to have a little chat, like nothing happened!?! Why should I even speak to you? So you get me in more trouble? I don't think so. Just leave me alone."

"I just came to say I was sorry I got you in trouble."

"You'd better be. Didn't you think about what would happen? Did you think about what it would do, not only to me but to you too? Did you think at all?"

"No, but I've gotta… go. I got this thing I've gotta do… and yeah."

Jordan ran away. She didn't just walk, she flat out ran. He could tell he had upset her, and if he hadn't been so mad at her, he might have cared. He also knew that he shouldn't have snapped like that, but he meant what he said. Eventually he would have to make it right with both girls, but right then, Amy wouldn't talk to him, and Jordan probably wouldn't either.

He sat there, with his headphones on, eating his lunch, trying to think of what he could say to Amy to get her to talk to him again.

*****

After school that day Ephram rode his bike home. He really needed to apologize to Amy. He couldn't stand her not talking to him, he just wasn't sure what to say. He went inside and found the phone. After a few failed attempts, and some yelling at himself, he finally called her. It rang several times before Dr. Abbott picked it up.

"Hello?" Dr. Abbott did not sound like he was having a good day either.

"Dr. Abbott is Amy there?" Ephram asked.

"Yes, hold on one second."

Dr. Abbott took the phone away from his ear and yelled up the stairs to Amy.

"Amy, that purple-haired boy is on the phone for you."

"Dad, his name is Ephram and I'm not home from school yet," Amy sounded annoyed.

"Nice try, he can hear you."

And he could. Ephram was sitting on his couch, trying desperately not to laugh at the goings on in the Abbott household.

"Fine. I've got it up here." Amy called back down the stairs.

"Hi Ephram. Dad I know you are still on the phone, please hang up." Amy was practically ordering her father around.

Suddenly there was a sigh and a click, signaling that the doctor had hung up.

"Ephram, I'm still really mad at you. I don't want to talk to you."

"I know. That's why I called. I can't stand you being mad at me. Can you come over here, we really need to talk." Ephram knew he was pleading with her and normally that would have bothered him but just then he couldn't have cared less.

"Alright. I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Dad, I'm going to Ephram's house," Amy called loudly, not knowing where her father was.

"Alright, just call me later," her father called just as loud.

Amy grabbed her jacket and her house keys and ran out the door and down the street, towards Ephram's house.

*

Amy knocked on the door and then looked around. She noticed there was no car in the driveway. She was just wondering where Dr. Brown could be when a voice called out that the door was open.

She opened the door and looked around for Ephram.

"Ephram? Where are you?" she called.

"I'm upstairs."

Amy climbed the stairs, and followed the sound of music playing quietly to Ephram's room. She stood in the doorway and watched him pacing nervously. She had never seen him that nervous before.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Amy asked, laughing at the startled look on the boy's face.

"Oh, yeah. Come in." He took her hand and sat her down on his bed. "Sorry, I'm still trying to think of what I'm going to say that will make you forgive me."

"Okay, well, try me."

After that last statement from Amy, Ephram began to sing, which surprised Amy seeing as that isn't the way one generally apologizes to someone else. He had a very nice voice, mid-tenor. Amy had never heard him sing before, and she was amazed.

_What makes you different makes you beautiful, _

_What's there inside you, shines through to me, _

_In your eyes I see _

_All the love I'll ever need, _

_You're all I need, oh girl, _

_What makes you different, makes you beautiful to me. _

_You don't know, How you touched my life_

_Oh in so many ways I just can't describe, _

_You taught me what love is supposed to be, _

_It's all the little things, _

_That make you beautiful to me_.

"That's all I wanted to say. That I think you're beautiful, and I love you. It's okay if you never want to speak to me again, even though I hope you do."

Ephram stood there and sang for Amy. She was completely silent the entire time, and then she sat there with her mouth open, looking shocked after. He began to pace again. He was so nervous. Amy wasn't saying anything. He hoped she wasn't even more mad or hurt. Suddenly he felt a hand wrap around his wrist.

"Ephram, that was absolutely amazing. No one's ever done anything like that for me before. I love you too." She felt him freeze and was about to let him go thinking she had scared him. She stood up, and was about to leave when he turned around, and grabbed her around the waist, and kissed her. He expected her to pull away, yell at him, and kick him out, even though it was his house. But to his surprise, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him back. They stood there in his room kissing like that for quite a long time. Eventually Amy leaned herself back onto his bed, which, of course, pulled Ephram with her.

*****

[A/N: That's it, that's all, no more. You'll have to wait till the next chapter to find out what happens. But review for me, would you?]


	5. When It Snows

Chapter 5:When It Snows 

*****

When Ephram woke up the next morning he still held Amy in his arms. He wasn't sure how, but somehow he had ended up wearing just his boxers while, Amy had on a very large tee shirt of Ephram's. Suddenly he remembered all of what had happened that night.

~*Flashback*~

"Amy, I'm not kidding. It's really late. You're parents are asleep, so is my dad. I'm not letting you walk home, and I'm sure it will be okay with them if you stay here." He was becoming annoyed with Amy's crazy idea that 1:30 in the morning was a good time to go home.

"But I don't have anything with me." It was obvious she was trying to find an excuse to get him to let her leave.

"That's okay. I have big shirts in my closet and I'm pretty sure that my dad put a spare toothbrush in the bathroom."

"Fine Ephram, you win."

He handed her one of his shirts and she headed to the bathroom.

~*End Flashback*~

"Amy, wake up," he said as he gently shook her, trying to wake her.

"Mmmmm…" she moaned sleepily. She opened her eyes and saw Ephram looking down at her. "Oh, Ephram. Hi. Good morning," she said before she leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"You'd better call your dad. If you don't call him soon, he'll come after me wanting to know what I've done with you."

"Okay, I'll be right back." You could tell Amy was still half asleep. Her speech was slightly slurred with sleep, and as she got out of bed she almost fell.

"Hello?"

"Daddy? It's Amy. I'm still at Ephram's. I'm sorry I didn't come home or even call but we kind of lost track of time, and before I knew it, it was 1:30. I would have come home then but it was really late, and I didn't call because I figured you were asleep. I'm sorry daddy."

"Amy it's alright. Thank you for calling now. It looks like you may need to stay there a little longer though."

Dr. Abbott seemed rather calm. That concerned Amy. He was never calm when it came to Ephram.

"Why?" Amy asked.

"Well, I was watching the weather and it looks like we're going to get some snow. It started about two hours ago."

"Oh. Okay. Well I'll talk to you later daddy."

Once Amy hung up she walked into the kitchen and sat down sat the table. When she looked up she saw Ephram cooking, what appeared to be pancakes.

"Why on earth are you cooking?" Amy asked.

"Well, because my father isn't here, and even if he was, you wouldn't like what he cooks. Most of the time its not even food."

Amy looked down at the table and saw a note that she hadn't noticed before. It read:

Ephram- I went to the office early this morning. Say hello to Amy for me, yes I did see her in your room, asleep, with you. We'll talk when I get home. -Dad

"So your dad saw us huh?" Amy said with a giggle.

"That's not funny. I know exactly what he wants to quote talk about."

"Yeah, so do I."

"Where's Delia?" Amy asked after a moment.

"She slept over at Sam's."

"But isn't that just next door?"

"Yeah. I think she was planning to let us be alone."

"She's a smart girl."

"Yes she is. Now be quite and eat your pancakes," he said placing a plate in front of her.

*****

Later on that afternoon Ephram walked into the living room to find Amy staring out the window obviously lost in thought. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She leaned back onto him and put her head on his shoulder.

"What are you thinking about?" Ephram asked looking down at her.

"Colin. And how different my life would be if he was still here," she said with a sigh. Then she closed her eyes giving her the appearance of being asleep.

"What would be different?" He already knew the answer but he wanted to know what she thought.

"Well, I'm not really sure. I'm pretty sure that I'd still be going out with him. And Bright wouldn't be insane. Well, he would be, but less so. I wouldn't have the whole town asking me if I was alright every damn time they bump into me on the street. And we would still be just friends."

"Do you want that?" Ephram wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer but he had to ask.

"Well parts of it. I mean I really wish people would leave me alone, and Colin was the first person I ever loved. But I'm really happy with you Ephram. And I love you now, not him."

"Good. I love you too."

Suddenly Amy turned around and started to walk towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Ephram asked hopefully. [A/N: If you don't know what he was hopeful about there is no help for you.]

"To find proper clothing. You don't think I'm going to go out in the snow in an oversized tee-shirt do you?" Amy said turning to smile at him with an evil glint in her eye.

"Why in hell are you going outside?"

"I'm not the only one. You need to get dressed too mister."

"Okay. Why are _we_ going outside?"

"So I can dump snow on your head of course." Amy said like everyone else in the world knew that was the reason.

"Oh of course." Ephram said back with his famous sarcasm taking over.

*

"Amy, that's really cold!" Ephram yelled at the girl who had just shoved a snowball down the back of his jacket. "You are really gonna get it now! Well, once I get this snow out of my jacket."

"You'll have to catch me first!" she called back over her shoulder.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

Ephram ran after her. When he caught up with her, he pushed her from behind. He pushed her lightly, but hard enough to knock her over. He then went over and sat on top of her.

"That was for the snow." He said before leaning over and kissing her. "And that was just because I felt like it."

At that moment Nina stuck her head out one of the windows of her house.

"Hey Ephram. Keep it clean out there. I've got young impressionable children in here. And one of them is your sister." Nina said more to give them a hard time than anything else.

"Sorry Nina!" the two teens called at the same time.

Ephram kissed Amy once more then helped her to stand up.

"Can we go back inside now? It's really cold out here." Ephram said more to get out of Nina's watch than anything else.

"Yeah. Fine." Amy then gave a fake cough that sounded remarkably like "baby".

"Hey, I heard that!"

"Oh? And what are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing in front of Nina, because we both know she's still watching. Isn't that right Nina?" He said that last bit slightly louder.

Then from in side Nina's house came the reply. "You know it!"

"Point taken."

*

By the next day the snow had stopped, been cleared away, and allowed Amy to go home. It had also allowed Dr. Brown to come home after being trapped in his office. He looked tortured but spending hours with Edna could do that to a person. He had a newfound respect for Irv. When he walked in the door he looked around for Ephram. Not finding him on the ground floor, he went upstairs to Ephram's room. He was there, laying on his bed, reading a manga book, listening to what he called music; his father just called it noise.

"Ephram, we need to talk," Dr. Brown said waiting to see his son's reaction.

"Normally, I wouldn't mind having a shouting match with you dad, but today I'm feeling happy, and I don't feel like ruining that." Ephram said without looking up.

"You slept with Amy didn't you?" Dr. Brown meant it more as a statement than as a question.

"No. Actually I didn't. Unless of course you mean did I sleep in the same bed as Amy, then yes dad, I slept with her." Ephram was becoming annoyed with his father. He was being incredibly nosy.

"Look, Ephram, you don't need to lie to me. I was fifteen once too."

"Dad, I'm not lying to you! I didn't sleep with her. Go call her if you want, but I'm not lying to you."

If Ephram was annoyed with his father, it was nothing compared to how Amy was feeling about her family. She got the exact same talk but she got it from her mother, father, and brother. She was ready to hit something after about ten minutes. Fortunately she didn't hit anything. Instead she when to find the phone so she could call Ephram.

*****

Amy was getting angry. Ephram didn't seem to want to answer the phone. She had called about twelve times, and he still didn't answer. She tried one more time.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Oh come on Ephram, it's not that difficult to pick up a ringing phone!"

She decided that the next time she saw him, she'd smack him but for now she would just go online and talk to her friends.

Kayqueen516: hey Amy!

Grover564: hi Kayla

Kayqueen516: uh-oh whats wrong?

Grover564: oh its nothing... im being stupid... 

Kayqueen516: well i could of told ya that... whats wrong?

Grover564: Ephram wont answer the phone

Kayqueen516: i told you to dump freak boy weeks ago... why does no one listen to me?

Grover564: oh shut up you dont even know him

Kayqueen516: and id like to keep it that way

Kayqueen516: but i still think you should dump him

Grover564: you know theres a reason no one listens to you... your advice sucks!

Kayqueen516: i love you too... but you really should

Grover564: yeah well i think i might

Kayqueen516: wait… why? your usually as stubborn as a mule

Grover564: and I kick twice as hard… but i have a feeling that this has something to that Boston girl

Kayqueen516: what does she have to do with anything?

Grover564: shes like in love with Ephram… i  have a feeling that she has something to do with him not answering the phone

Kayqueen516: so your gonna dump him

Grover564: yeah

Kayqueen516: good! now go do it.

Grover564: fine fine

Grover564: ttyl

Kayqueen516: bye

*****

Ephram had been talking to Jordan on the phone pretty much all day. He had originally called just to apologize for being a jerk, but he found it really easy to open up to her. 

"No I'm not kidding. I really did jump out of my bed room window, just to go to a party and get drunk," Ephram said with a small laugh.

"I think it's the east coast in you. People here don't do that kinda stuff. They just don't. It's weird."

"Yeah well that's Everwood for you."

"Ephram!" Delia called from downstairs.

"Hold on a sec Jordan," he said putting his hand over the speaker. "What Delia?" he called back.

"Amy's here," she said.

"Ok, tell her I'll be right down."

"Jordan can I call you back later?" he said turning back to the phone.

"Sure."

"Great. I gotta go. Bye."

*

"Whatsamatta?" Ephram asked sluring he words like only people from the northeast can.

"Well.... ummm.... I just wanted to tell you that.... I think.... that we should.... uhhh.... breakup," said Amy.

"Oh. Okay. That's fine. Whatever." he said, obviously hurt.

"I'm sorry Ephram."

"No, it's fine, really. But I've gotta go. I got a phone call to make," he said before stumbling up the stairs, leaving Amy alone in his living room.

"My brothers a jerk, isn't he," Delia asked coming in to the living room.

"No he's not. He's hurt that's all." 

*

"Hey Jordan, do mind if I come over tonight. I'm bored I need something to do."

"Sure, no problem. My parents are outta town so they can't object."

"Great. I'll be there soon."

He hung up the phone and went down the stairs. 

"Hey Delia, I'm going out. Dad'll be home any moment so I'll just leave you here. Tell him I went to Jordan's."

"But Ephram..." 

"It'll be fine, just don't go anywhere and if you need something call Nina." 

"Okay fine."

*

"Hey Ephram. Oh my gosh, what's wrong?" 

Ephram had just arrived at Jordan's house, and looked as though he had been crying.

"Oh. It's nothing, I'm fine."

"Okay, well I was just watching a movie, you want to watch it with me?"

"Sure."

They sat in silence, eating popcorn and watching the corny, romance movie, for about half an hour. Ephram started getting thirsty so he got up to get something to drink.

"Hey, you want anything while I'm in here?"

"Yeah. Just give me whatever your having."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Ephram started rummaging through the refrigerator and cabinets, looking for something to drink. He had a couple different choices. In that one moment he made a choice that would change his life, Jordan's life, and the lives of all of those around them.

*****

[A/N: Like it so far? Want to know what happens next? Well, let me know, and I'll post the next chapter as soon as physically possible.]


	6. Why You Should Never Get Drunk When You'...

**Chapter 6: Why You Should Never Get Drunk When You're Sad**

The night Amy dumped Ephram, Ephram made some bad decisions. When he was looking around for something to drink he found sodas, but he also found a few bottles of alcohol. He chose the alcohol. Since Jordan had asked for whatever he was having he gave her some too. That was start of a chain of events that lead up to a life altering decision.

*****

"Ephram! Ephram come here!" Jordan ran up to him in the hall, looking panicked.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Jordan looked around. There were too many people in the hall. "Come in here," she said pulling him into an empty classroom.

"Okay. What's up? It's something bad isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's bad."

"Well, come on, tell me. I mean how bad can it be?"

"Pretty bad."

"It's okay. Just tell me."

"Okay here goes. Ephram... do you remember like a week ago when you came over my house that night?"

"Yeah."

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Not really, it's a little fuzzy. But what does that have to do with anything." Ephram was clearly lost.

"I'm getting there. Well see the thing is... I'm... umm... I'm pregnant."

"P-pregnant?" Ephram was shocked. 

"That was pretty much my reaction." 

"Shit! Oh shit, I'm in trouble."

"You? You're not the one with a person growing inside you!"

"Yeah, but did you think about how our parents are going to react?"

"Your right. Oh crap! But are you okay with it? You're not mad are you?"

"No, no... I'm fine with it... I actually am kind of glad... I mean being a parent at fifteen isn't the greatest thing but... I think it's cool."

*

"Hey Dad?" Ephram was trying to think of the best way to tell his father that he had gotten a girl pregnant. 

"Yes Ephram?" Dr. Brown was amazed his son was talking to him of his own free will.

"Well... umm... uhh... do you remember that night that I was out really late, because I was at Jordan's house?"

"I think so. That was last week right?"

"Yeah. Well that night I kind of slept with her... and now she's kind of... pregnant."

"Wait, you're kidding. Please tell me your kidding."

"Do I look like I'm kidding?!"

"Ephram fifteen is too young to be a father!!!" 

"Yeah well I wish I was older too, but I'm not."

"Are you telling me that you don't mind the fact that you're going to be a father?"

"Yes."

"And I'm going to be a grandfather? No. I can't be a grandfather. I'm too young!"

"Why are you going to be a grandfather?" Delia asked. She had just walked in the room so she hadn't heard the rest of the conversation.

"Well you see Delia, I did something stupid. I got a friend of mine pregnant. That means she's going to have baby," he said trying to explain to his sister.

"Ephram, I know what it means. I'm nine, not stupid. But you are stupid. How could you do that? I can't believe you!" Delia ran out of the room. Her brother that she counted on to always do the right thing had screwed up. He had let her down.

"Ephram you've disappointed your sister."

"I can see that Dad!" 

"Well she's not the only one. You've disappointed me too," Dr. Brown said turning his back and walking away.

*

"Wait so are you telling me that after I dumped you, you went to her house, had sex with her, and went home like nothing was wrong!" Amy said. She didn't know how Ephram could be that stupid.

"Well yeah, but I was drunk. I had no idea of what was going on," said Ephram, trying to defend himself.

"You were drunk? But you only drink when your mad at- oh no, this is all my fault!"

"Amy no. Don't blame yourself. I could have just as easily had a soda."

Amy took Ephram's hand in her own. "It's gonna be okay Ephram. It will all work out in the end." Amy was disappointed in him but he needed a friend now. Besides he had been there for her in the past so many times.

"I know. I actually think it's kinda cool."

"Well that's good. So do you want it to be a boy or girl?"

"I dunno. A girl I guess because, that way I don't have to worry about it being like me and my dad."

"Plus, when she's old enough, you can chase off any dates she gets," said Amy with a laugh.

"Yeah well there's that," he said laughing with her.

*****

A few months passed without any major problems. That is if you call, two members of your family not speaking to you and a good friend of yours being totally insane, minor. Ephram relied on Amy to get him through; she was all that kept him from shooting himself.

One night the two of them were sitting in Ephram's bedroom talking. They were talking about school, teachers, friends, and pretty much everything else, when Amy brought up family.

"I swear, Bright is insane! They should stick him in a straight jacket, and put him in a padded room. The kid is nuts," she said half laughing.

"My sister hates me. She won't even look at me, and my father is avoiding me," he said with a very serious look on his face.

"It's really too bad. They could be big support right now." 

" I know. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if he stuck me on the next plane outta here once the baby's born though."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I know my father. He's sick and tired of me screwing up. He'll send me to New York to live with my grandparents so he doesn't have to deal with me anymore."

"He wouldn't really do that though would he?"

"Oh yeah, he would."

Amy started to freak out. Dr. Brown couldn't send Ephram away! Ephram was her best friend. He was always there for her. He had been there for her more than everyone else combined. Now, when she was finally starting to realize him for what he was, he was being sent away! That couldn't happen!

Ephram saw the fear and panic in her eyes. He moved over next to her and put his arms around her waist. "Don't worry Ames. I'm not going anywhere without a fight."

*

"J, we seriously need to start to think about names." Ephram was becoming slightly annoyed. He been trying to get her to do this for an hour and still hadn't succeeded. She had sidetracked him four different times now.

"But Ephram! I'm starving can we order a pizza?" They were in her kitchen, and she really was starving.

"No. We'll call Gino Chang's later and get pizza. Just sit. We're doing this now."

"Oh, fine. But you sound like you father," she said sitting down.

"Though that scares me deeply, you are not sidetracking me again. We are doing this."

"Ok. For a girl?"

"Well, can we use Julia as the middle name? It was my mother's name. I'd say use it as the first name, but that's predictable. I hate predictable, and so did she."

"Yeah that's fine. I think it's sweet that you would honor your mother that way," she said.

"So what about a first name?" he asked.

"Ummm... how about Anastasia? I love that name I think it's so pretty. It's a good movie too."

"Ok." he said laughing that she got that from a movie.

"What if it's a boy?" she wanted to know.

"Uhhh.... Michael James. I had a friend named that out in New York."

"Yeah that's cute." 

"You know we're done now."

"Really? That was easier than I thought it would be."

"Well if we had done it an hour ago when I first got here the you could be finishing off that pizza right now."

"So we can get pizza?" 

"Call Gino," he said laughing at her yet again.

*

Amy called about thirty seconds after he got home.

"So Ham, what did you pick for names?"

"Anastasia Julia and Michael James."

"Ohhh.... that's so cute."

" I thought so too."

*****


	7. A New Face Or Two Or Nine?

Chapter 7: A New Face Or Two… Or Nine? 

On the first day of summer vacation Ephram was sitting on his bed, reading a Ranma ½ manga, when the phone rang. Knowing that Delia would answer, he ignored it. About twenty seconds later he heard her shout up the stairs, "Ephram, you have a phone call."

"Take a message."

"Ephram answer the phone."

"I'm not home!"

By that time Delia was in the doorway. "God Ephram, it's not like you're doing anything important in here. Just answer the damn phone," Delia threw the phone at him, while he sat there gawking at her. She had sworn at him. Granted 'damn' isn't a swear, but when you're nine, and talking to your brother it's a bit shocking to hear. Although, he knew exactly where she had picked it up. He and his father weren't exactly quiet when they argued.

When he had gotten over his shock, he put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Ephram? It's Mrs. Green."

"Mrs. Green? As in Jordan's mother? Is everything alright?"

"Well, that's why I called."

*****

"So explain to me what happened," Amy said on the other end of the phone. She couldn't believe what had happened. 

"Well, apparently Jordan was driving home from school yesterday, and she wasn't paying much attention, because, well it's the last day of school, and she was excited. And so anyway, she wasn't paying much attention and she ran a red light, by accident. Someone else went to go at the same time and crashed right into the driver's side of the car. She's in the hospital, and it doesn't look to good."

"Oh my god, Ephram, that's horrible."

"I know. I'm going to the hospital now to visit her."

"I'm coming with you." 

"What? No. Amy you can't. You just can't."

"Fine then, I'll meet you there. She's in Denver right?"

"Yeah, but just stay there. I'll come pick you up."

"Good."

"Alright I'll see you in a minute."

*

"Hey, Danny-girl," Ephram said walking into Jordan's hospital room. 

"Danny-girl?" Amy looked at him like he was crazy.

"It's a nickname," he shrugged. 

"Would you guys cut it out? God you've been here ten seconds and you're already fighting." 

"Sorry, we didn't realize that you were awake," Ephram said while walking over to sit in the chair next to her.

"I wasn't."

"Sorry," Amy and Ephram said at the same time.

"Whatever. I'm glad you guys can to see me."

"How do you feel?" Ephram asked. He was off topic and utterly blunt, and it caught both the girls off guard. Amy smacked him in the arm and Jordan just glared at him.

"Ephram, how do I look like I feel? I'm cut and bruised. I don't even remember how many broken bones I have; it's something like 12. I don't know if they informed you but I've already been through surgery to fix God knows what inside me. And I have a tube shoved up my-"

"Please don't finish that sentence," Amy said, and both girls laughed.

"I think I missed something," Ephram said, looking at the girls 

"You did. And you should be happy about it," Jordan retorted.

"Believe me I am."

"If you guys don't mind, I think I'm gonna take a nap. I'm getting really tired all of a sudden," Jordan said, closing her eyes. 

"Yeah. That's fine. We'll stay right here; keep you company," Ephram said looking over at the sick girl. Obviously she was very tired because all she did was nod weakly at him.

Ephram and Amy sat there in the room taking quietly for a while. 

"Yeah, Delia's really growing up. She swore at me today."

"What? What did she say?"

"Well, it was only damn, but still, she's nine. And she's my little sister. And she shouldn't be saying things like that."

That was when the alarm sounded. The steady beeping coming from Jordan's heart monitor, turned into a steady flat buzz. Within seconds at least ten nurses came rushing into the room. Over the loud speaker they heard a woman's voice call out, "Code red in room 989."

"Oh my god," Amy said breathlessly. She already had tears streaking down her face. 

"Come here," Ephram said, motioning for her to come and hug him. He was doing it for two reasons. First he didn't want her to have to watch the horrific events happening around them, and second, he didn't want her to see the tears now falling down his cheeks as well.

"I'm sorry kids, but the two of you are going to have to leave," said one of the many nurses.

"No," Ephram said. The nurse stared at him. She had obviously never been so blatantly denied.

"I'm sorry, but that's not you're decision to make," she stated.

"Listen to me, right now, the girl laying in that bed there, she's one of my best friends. She also happens to be carrying my baby, so no matter how hard you try, you cannot kick me out of here," Ephram, replied through clenched teeth, tears streaming down his face.

"Sweetie, you can't be in here right now," the nurse said.

"Ephram, let's go, come on," Amy said, trying to pull him out of the room.

"NO! Amy I wouldn't let you leave Colin, why are you making me leave Jordan?"

"Ephram. Let's go." Amy finally succeeded to pull Ephram from the room, with much resistance from him. Once they were outside Amy walked over to stand right in front of Ephram. She looked him right in the eye and glared at him. "Don't you ever, ever do that again! Your right, you didn't make me leave Colin, but for the love of God Ephram, he died. My boyfriend DIED! How could you dare to throw it back in my face at a moment like this? I swear that if you ever do something like that to me again I will make your life a living hell."

"Amy, she's dying. If they can't revive her, or whatever the hell they do, she's dead. She's one of the few people in this town that understands me. She knows what it's like to be moved into the middle of nowhere, and have to start your entire life over again. When I met her it was like I'd known her all my life. She's one of my best friends, and with out her, it'll be like there's a part of me missing. Don't get me wrong I don't love her, like I love you, but you've gotta understand, this is a horrible thing to have to go through." Then Ephram broke down. He couldn't control it any more.

"Ephram, I know how hard it is. I've been there before, and so have you. I'll help you get through it, I promise."

"That is IF it happens."

"Right, of course, the big if."

A nurse came out of the room, "I'm sorry kids," she said with a very sad look on her face.

"Right. Okay, thanks," Amy said while looking at Ephram.  
  


"What about the baby?"

"I'm sorry sweetie. She didn't make it either."

"Okay, uhh… thanks…" Ephram said, looking down at the floor. 

*****

About a week went by before Ephram would talk to anyone about what had happened that day. He was so upset about what had happened that as soon as he got home he went up to his room and didn't leave more than once a day. The only times he left was to get food or to go to the bathroom. But then one day when he was home alone he got a phone call. 

Ring. Ring. Ring. 

Ephram rolled over and looked at his clock. The bright green numbers blinked 8:30. 

Ring. Ring. Ring. 

"Good God, who is calling at this hour?" 

Ring. Ring. Ring. 

And then the answering machine picked up. "You have reached Andy, Ephram, and Delia Brown. We can't get to the phone right now, but leave a message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible." 

"Ephram Brown, pick up the phone. I know you're laying in your bed glaring at the phone, pretending that you can ignore me. If you don't answer this phone right now-" As soon as she started talking Ephram knew exactly who the girl calling him was. 

"Kayliegh Harrington, why the hell are you calling me at 8:30 in the morning. In New York, if you called me before 11:00 am, I kicked your ass."

"Ephram, first of all, you tried to kick my ass, it never worked, and second, you can try all you want to kick my ass now, but its not gonna happen if we're in different states, let alone different time zones."

"Good point. Now what do you want, I have to go back to sleep."

"I want to know what your address is."

"It can't wait a couple hours?"  
  


"No, it can't. We have a surprise for you."

"Wait a sec, who's we?"

"We. As in me and Amber and Taylor and everybody else."

"Oh no, this is going to turn out badly isn't it."

"No." 

"You mean you've forgotten that time that Taylor sent that postcard to-"

"No I haven't forgotten that, but it's not going to happen again."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. I'm not letting Taylor touch anything. Ow, Taylor if you do that again I'll throw you out the window. Sorry, she hit me. So are you going to tell me where you live or will I have to make you put Delia on the phone."

"231 Dearborn Road."

"And it's Everwood Colorado right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Thanks." And with that final statement Kayliegh hung up on him. _Just like her,_ he thought.

About ten minutes later Ephram heard the doorbell ring. He looked over at the clock again. It was still _way_ too early to be awake so he rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep. After about two minutes the doorbell started to ring uncontrollably. He didn't know who it was at the door but he knew that they were trying to get him out of bed. So he got up and opened his bedroom door. "If you stop ringing the bell, I'll be down in a minute. If not I'm getting back in bed," he shouted down the stairs. Immediately the ringing stopped. _Thank God,_ he thought before heading down the stairs. _The only people who ever bother me this early in morning are Delia and Kayliegh._

When he reached the bottom of the stairs he could see several people standing outside his door. Once he was in front of the door, and visible through the window, one of the people at the door pushed the bell again, for no purpose other than their own strange amusement. "Fine then, I won't answer the door, I'll go get breakfast," he said turning away from the door. 

"Fine, we'll let our selves in then," said a male voice from behind the door. "Whatever," Ephram said, still heading away from the door towards the kitchen. He heard the door bang open, a girl squeal, a boy say "let's do this," [A/N: LOL, Laura, remember when Matt said that to Heather?] and then he was face down on the floor with someone about his size on his back. 

"What the hell is going on?" he said, his voice muffled by the wood. All he heard was laughter, all around him. As soon as he said that the person on his back rolled off, allowing him to get up and see the people standing in his front hallway. There were nine of them. They fit in, in Everwood like Ephram was popular. They were all dressed in black, most of them with their hair dyed colors generally not found in nature. He knew them all. Ephram started to laugh too. He couldn't believe they were in his house. 

"Why are you guys here? When Kay said surprise I thought you meant you were going to send me my birthday present. And who was it that just jumped on me?" The girl next to him sort of raised her hand.

"That would be me," said Kelly Shea. "And you know very well that your birthday isn't for another four months."

"Kelly that hurt. I'm gonna have a bruise on my knees for a week now," he said, laughing slightly.

"But it was funny," said Kelly's identical twin Molly. The only way anyone was able to tell them apart was by the color of the streaks in their hair. Kelly had pink streaks, and Molly had light purple ones.

"Maybe for you."

"Oh look, Eph's turned into a wimp without us," said Jake Nystrom, the boy on Ephram's other side. 

"Shut up Jake, I remember when you cried because I tackled you when we were playing football in gym."

"That was Josh," Jake said, looking over at his twin. [A/N: Yes, there are two sets of twins. I think it's cute.] Once again the only distinguishing quality that you could use to tell Jake from Josh, was their hair color. Jake had dyed his hair dark blue. Josh's hair was bright red.

"Was it really?"

"No, it was Jake he just doesn't want to look stupid," said Amber Kingsly, who was leaning against the door. 

"Too late," They chorused.

"I hate you all," Jake said over the laughter.

There was a knock on the door, and Amber whipped around to answer it. It was Amy. 

"Hi, I was looking for Ephram. Is he here?" asked Amy confusedly. 

"Nope. Sorry girlie, you got the wrong house," Amber stated, closing the door.

But before she could completely Ephram ran over. "Amber, don't be a bitch." He pulled the door back open. "What do you want Amy?" he asked impatiently. 

"Well, I wanted to see if you were okay, you haven't answered your phone all week. And by the way, who are these people?" Amy said, her expression going from confusion, to concern, back to confusion. 

"I'm fine. I didn't feel like answering the phone, and told Delia to tell people that. And these are my friends. Kayliegh and Bryan Harrington. Kelly and Molly Shea. Josh and Jake Nystrom. Amber Kingsly. Taylor Dingle. And Skuzzy." he said pointing to each one in turn. 

"Is that his real name?"

"No, his real name is-"

"Eph, don't you dare finish that sentence," Skuzzy called from across the room.

Ephram glared at him, then continued, "His real name is Andrew Boyle. But no one's called him that since third grade."

"How come I've never seen them before? I think I would have noticed them, I mean they sort of stick out." That statement got glares from everyone in the room. 

"You've never seen us before, because we don't live in your dinky, time-warped, little town," said Amber pointedly.

"We're from New York," Molly added, a little more nicely.

"Oh. Well. I'll see you later Ephram," Amy said before turning to leave. 

"Amber, didn't I say like thirty seconds ago, don't be a bitch?" Ephram asked, after closing the door.

"But she said that we stick out," Bryan, Kayliegh's older brother, said coming to Amber's defense. 

"Guys, this town isn't like New York, we DO stick out here. But you'd have to see all of the town to understand that I suppose."

"So who was that?" asked Taylor.

"My ex. Who I happen to still be friends with."

"I didn't know you were into preppies Eph," Josh said. 

"You don't really get much of a choice in this town."

"She's hot though," Jake said. Everyone in the room looked at him like he was crazy. "Well, she is."

"Whatever you say Jake, hey, Eph how about showing us around this… place." Kelly said. She would have used a word other than place but she wasn't sure exactly what to call the place Ephram now called home. 

"Sure, but can you give me like two minutes so I can change? I mean I had to get out of bed to let you freaks in here."

"Just go Ephram." 

*

The group of them stood on the sidewalk in front of the park, overlooking the downtown. [A/N: I'm not sure if such a place exists in the town but in this story it does, because, I say so.] They looked out of place there. Ten teenagers, dressed in black, in the middle of Everwood.

"That's Mama Joy's, it's a 'small town diner' but it has wicked [A/N: Do New Yorkers use wicked in that context, or is it just us Boston peoples?] good food. Over there is Gino Chang's, the weirdest place you'll ever eat. And Molly, before you ask, yes that includes that place we went in Manhattan, with the weird waiter guys. It's a Chinese/Italian place. It's not bad, if you can stand egg rolls that smell like garlic. That's my dad's office there, with the 'Brown Family Practice' sign out front. It used to be a train station, but they shut it down years ago. So when we moved here he turned it into a doctor's office. And then across the street there is Dr. Abbott's office. He's Amy's dad, and the other doctor in town." Ephram was trying to show his friends around without getting them lost quiet yet. 

"Wait a minute. A town barely big enough for an area code has two doctors?" Bryan asked, shocked. 

"Yeah, I thought it was weird too."

"Well, that's just peachy, but I'm starving," Jake said. 

"Okay, then lets get something to eat," Ephram said, starting to head across the street. 

"Can we please avoid the place with the funky egg rolls?" Skuzzy asked. 

"Sure. But Gino makes a damn good pizza." 

The ten of them walked across the street, into Mama Joy's. 

"Hi, Ephram. Your dad took Delia and Sam to the zoo this morning. He didn't ask you because he figured you wouldn't want to go," Nina said. 

"He figured right. For once," he replied.

"You and your friends want some breakfast?" Nina asked, smiling at the teens behind Ephram. 

"Sure. Oh and these are my friends from New York, they came to visit me. Guys, this is my neighbor, Nina."

"Nice to meet you," they chorused.

*

They had been there for about an hour, when the Abbott's entered. Bright took one glance around and headed straight towards the table where Ephram and his friends sat. Amy followed him closely. 

"Hey Brown," Bright said menacingly.

"What do you want Bright?" Ephram asked tensely.

"Bright, don't do this. Not now. We're out in public," Amy warned.

"Exactly Ames," he said to his sister. He then turned back to Ephram and his friends, all of whom looked thoroughly confused. "You know what I want Brown, I want to kick your ass."

"Ephram, who is this guy?" Kayliegh whispered in his ear. 

"Amy's moronic brother. His name is Bright. He's basically a walking oxymoron," he whispered back loud enough for everyone at the table to hear. They all sniggered. 

"So, they say your name is Bright? That's rather funny, since you don't seem very bright at all," Amber, the shortest of them all, said. 

"Yeah, well, who the hell are you?" Bright looked at her trying to figure out the best way to hit on her.

"My name is Amber Kingsly. And I'm best friends with Ephram," she said putting an arm around Ephram, who was now standing next to her. 

This confused Bright. "Why, would you want to be friends with that freak?"

"He thinks you're hot, and can't understand why you would want to be friends with the outcast of the town," Ephram whispered in her ear. 

She smiled, and nodded to show she understood. "Well, because, where I'm from he's not a freak, because he's a cool guy. And…" she wasn't sure how to finish the sentence. But then something came to her. "And because he's hot." 

"I am?" Ephram said, surprised.

"He is?" asked all of her friends behind her, and Bright, just as surprised as Ephram. 

"Yeah, he is," she replied. "Go with it Ephram, I'm trying really hard to throw him off," she added, in her friends ear. He nodded slightly. 

"So you think _he_ is hotter than _me_?" said a stunned Bright. No one had ever said to his face that they didn't think he was hot. 

"Oh defiantly. I mean look at him." 

"Whatever you say," Bright still didn't understand, but he wasn't going to fight with this girl. So instead he just walked off. 

"That was pretty good," Amy said to Amber. "It's pretty hard to throw Bright off when he's intent on something. Especially when Ephram's involved." 

"Thanks. Come on, guys lets go," Amber said, turning back to the table full of her friends. No one moved. They we're too shocked. They had never heard anyone say anything like that about Ephram, at least not in public. "Guys, that means close you're mouth and start moving." This sparked something in their heads, and they all started to move towards the door. 

Before leaving himself, Ephram turned to Amy and whispered in her ear, "I'll call you later." Then he followed his friends out the door.

*****

[A/N: Okay, that's all folks, nothing more to see here. I'll have the next chapter up mid-week. Maybe Thursday. I'm not sure. I'm still trying to write it, so if it's not up then, please don't come after me. Anyway, review it for me. I need the reviews. They give me inspiration *hint hint*.]


	8. Friends Are Like Comic Relief

Warning: Minor swearing in this chapter. I know there has been some in other chapters, but there's more of it than usual in this one.

**Chapter 8: Friends Are Like Comic Relief**

Ephram and his friends sat in his room. It was a rather odd sight to see. Ten teens sprawled on the floor, the bed, and the chairs. They were reading manga books and talking about what was going on, even when the others said to stop because they would spoil it. [A/N: *cough cough*** **sound familiar Laura? Lol.] 

"Hey Kay I got the new Inuyasha book," Ephram said.

"The fourteenth came out a while ago Eph," she replied, not looking up from the Chobits volume she was reading.

"No, not that one, the fifteenth."

"But how can you get the fifteenth, it hasn't come out yet."

"I know. I have connections."

"Like what, the quarterback?" said Jake from the across the room.

"Nah, he hates me. Actually, I'm friends with this guy who works at the comic book store. They sell manga books and anime tapes there too, so he lets me know when they get new shipments in and gives my stuff ahead of time."

"That's so awesome," Taylor said, from the floor by his feet.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. I was the only person in this whole town who knew, or cared for that matter, what manga and anime was, but finally I have other people to talk to."

"Oh come on Eph, you know you missed for other reasons," said Kelly.

"Yeah Eph, you know you missed us more than that," said Molly.

"No, not really." Suddenly Ephram had pillows, books, and shoes flying in his direction. "God guys, I was just kidding, no need to throw things."

"Ephram! I'm home!" his father called from downstairs.

"I'm in my room!" Ephram called back.

A few seconds later Ephram heard a knock on the door. "Go away," he said back. Instead the door opened.

"Ephram, I- oh, I see you made some friends."

"No dad, these are my friends from back home. If you'd been at home once in a while you would know that."

"Right, well, I just wanted to know what you want to eat for dinner."

"I don't care."

"Okay, I'll cook something then. Do you guys like meatloaf?"

"Yeah," was the answer.

"No, dad, you can't cook anything. It's bad enough that you try to poison your own children. Poisoning other peoples children is strictly frowned upon." 

"Oh come on Ephram, it can't be that bad," said Amber.

"Hold on a sec." He walked out of the room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. When he came back he had a plastic container of what appeared to be pre-chewed spaghetti.

"Ew! Ephram, what the hell is that?" 

"Leftovers from dinner last night. It was _supposed to be lasagna."_

"Okay, I'll pick up a pizza then," Dr. Brown said. 

"Better make that like four. We finish off a pizza between the three of us," Ephram said.

"Okay," Dr. Brown said before leaving the room. 

"Your dad's a nice guy. How come you're always so mean to him, and when you talk about him?" Skuzzy said. 

"Think about it. We've all been friends since we were like two. You guys practically lived at my house. When was the first time you met my father?" Ephram asked.

"Just now," they all mumbled. 

"Exactly."

"Can you make me a promise?" Ephram asked.

"Sure what is it?" Josh asked back. 

"Promise me you won't eat anything my father gives you that doesn't come out of a take out container." 

"Not a problem," Bryan said. They all agreed.

They sat there I silence for a few moments, but then Molly pulled out the latest issue of YM and all the girls crowded around her. They all began to read the different articles and giggle at the different stories. 

Jake looked over at the group of them with a look of deep confusion on his face. "Why do they read that crap?"

The other boys just shrugged. They didn't have a clue either.

"Because it has information on clothes, make-up, celebrities, and other stuff. Not to mention the fact that it helps us to understand why boys do what they do, and what they think," said Amber absently. 

"Basically it helps us understand fashion and YOU," Taylor added.

"Me?" asked Skuzzy.

"No, not you specifically, but all of you morons in general," said Kayliegh. 

"Did she just call us morons?" asked Bryan.

"I think she did," answered Ephram. "Lets get her!" And with that the five boys attacked Kayliegh. Josh sat on her stomach so she couldn't get away, while the other four tickled her until she couldn't breathe. The other girls sat there laughing at her. They weren't going to help her because, first it was extremely funny and second because the boys would go after them too if they tried too help. However if they didn't help Kayliegh would kick their asses. 

"AHHH! GUYS STOP! STOP! I CAN'T BREATHE ANYMORE!" Kayliegh yelled through her laughter.

"Ephram, I'm home. If you guys want food you'd better come now," Dr. Brown called up the stairs.

As soon as they heard that the five boys jumped up and started running towards the door of the room. 

"Hey guys where's the fire?" Kelly asked. 

Jake turned around and stared at her for a moment. "No fire. FOOD!" He stated sounding more like a caveman than a modern teenage boy.

"Oh because that really clears everything up!" Amber yelled after them.                                                                                                    

About thirty seconds later Dr. Brown yelled up the stairs, "Girls, if you expect to eat in this decade you had better get down here now. The boys are eating all the food in the house." All of the girls laughed. 

"We're coming!" Taylor shouted back. "And you boys had better save me some pizza or I'll eat _you_." 

They heard a snort downstairs, but the sound of pizza boxes moving stopped.

*****

The next morning when Ephram woke up his house was very quiet. He wondered if he had imagined the events of the day before; his friends were NEVER this quiet. But as he went to put his feet on the floor they hit something squishy and he heard Josh's sleepy voice say, "Ephram, get your feet off my stomach before I kill you." Ephram moved his feet to the floor and laughed. At least he hadn't imagined it. Ephram tried to walk out of his room with out killing any of the boys sprawled across the floor. Unfortunately Bryan was right in front of the door and leaving the room would mean whacking him in the head with the door. 

Ephram nudged Bryan with his foot. 

Bryan rolled over and muttered, "Kay, go away. I have another hour that I can sleep."

"Bryan, you're in the way."

Bryan opened his eyes and looked squinted up at Ephram. "You're not Kay."

"And you're still in the way. Just move over so I can open the door."

Bryan rolled across the floor until he bumped into Jake. 

"Thanks Bry."

Bryan waved his hand before going back to sleep. Ephram walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. As he walked in he saw he wasn't the only one awake at that hour. Kayliegh was sitting at the kitchen table sipping on a cup of coffee. 

"You're up early this morning," she said looking up at him. "Well, early for you. It's 9:30."

"Really? Is it that early? I should've gone back to sleep."

"It's not too late, Grumpy."

"Yes it is. I won't be able to get back in my room."

"Why?" 

"Because your stupid brother decided that the best place to fall asleep was right in front of the door."

"I hope you whacked him with it when you were leaving."

"Nope, but I kicked him to wake him up. And I stepped on Josh getting out of bed."

"Can you even walk around in your room?"

"No. Between the four of them they managed to take up all the floor space. I'm not even sure how. I've got a lot of floor space."

There was a knock on the door. 

"Who the hell could that be?" Kayliegh asked.

"I don't know," he said walking towards the door. He looked through the window to see Bright standing on his doorstep. 

"What the hell?" Slowly he opened the door. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to talk to that girl you were with yesterday."

"Which one? There are five of them."

"The one I was talking to."

"Okay, come in, I'll go get her." 

Ephram then ran up the stairs and into the spare bedroom. He looked around the room. Kelly and Molly were asleep next to the bed, Taylor lay against the wall, but Amber was nowhere to be seen. He scanned the room once more. 

"Guys, wake up," he said. 

No one moved. 

"Wake the hell up!" he yelled at the sleeping forms. Kelly rolled over and continued to ignore him. Molly sat up and glared at him. Taylor threw her pillow at him and then stole Molly's so she could go back to sleep. There was still no sign of Amber. 

"Molly, since you're the only one who seem awake enough to speak-" he was cut off.

"Not by choice buddy."

"Right, well, since you can, where's Amber?"

Molly pointed at the bed, then reached out and grabbed her pillow back, so that Taylor's head hit the floor, hard. 

"Molly, there's no one in the bed."

"Under it, dipshit!" she yelled.

Ephram walked over to the bed and lifted the bedspread so he could see under it. There was Amber, still asleep, under the bed. 

"Why, are you under the bed?"

"What the hell do you want?" she said glaring at him. 

"You have company."

"NOW?" she practically screamed.

"No, tomorrow. Of course now. You don't think I'd wake you up at 9:30 in the morning just to be mean do you?"

"Yes," they all said.  
  


"Once. I did that once," he said leaving the room, Amber in tow.

When he got back downstairs he saw Kayliegh and Bright staring at the two of them and laughing hysterically.

"What where you guys doing up there? I heard a lot of yelling, and I loud bang," Kayliegh said, trying very hard to contain her laughter. 

"Let's just say that you girls are incredibly hard to wake up." Ephram replied, laughing a little himself.

"And that loud bang was my head hitting the floor," Taylor said coming down the stairs, rubbing her forehead.  

"There's coffee in the kitchen," Kayliegh said, knowing that would perk her friend up from the grumpy state she was in.

"OOOOO!" Taylor started to walk off in the direction of the kitchen. 

"So how did you whack your head anyway?" Kayliegh asked following her. 

"Molly. It's all Molly's fault."

"Hey, Kay, where's my dad?" Ephram said following the two girls out of the room. 

"So um… tall blonde guy, what do you want?" 

"Well, I wanted to ask you out. And my name is Bright. Bright Abbott."

"Oh that's right, you're that guy that was harassing us at the diner yesterday."

"Yeah, uh… sorry about that. I sort of hate Ephram. It's a long story."

"That's nice and all, but he's one of my best friends. I'm closer to him than I am to my own family. So why would you want to go out with me if I'm that close to your enemy."

"Because you're hot, and besides I'm going to have to learn to tolerate the guy eventually. I mean, my sister's like in love with him."

"She is! Really? Can I tell him that?"

"No. She'll kill me if she finds out I told anyone."

"But you're bigger than she is."

"Yeah, well, she's a tough girl. Anyway, will you go out with me? Tomorrow night. I'll take you to dinner."

"Yeah sure. Why not." 

"Great. And by the way, you look beautiful."

Amber looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing and extremely large t-shirt and red pajama pants with reindeer on them, both of which almost swallowed her small figure (she was, after all, only 5' 2"). Her fuzzy slippers didn't help anything. Her dirty-blonde hair was a mess, sticking out in strange places from the bun she had put it in. To top it all of she wasn't wearing any make-up, but the mascara she had been wearing the day before had rubbed off, so her eyes had that oh-so-attractive raccoon look to them. She looked back at Bright and smiled. "Thanks, but I know you're lying."

"I'm not lying."

This made Amber smile even more, and blush a little. "Thanks."   

"You're welcome. I have to go now, but I'll see you tomorrow." He bent over and kissed her on the cheek, making her blush even more. He then turned and left. Just before the door closed she called after him, "Hey Bright, do you even know my name?"

He stood in the doorway staring at her, blushing, and making it terribly obvious that he didn't. "No."

"It's Amber."

He smiled at her for a moment, then continued out the door. 

The moment the door closed Amber heard gagging noises coming from the top of the stairs. Amber ran to the bottom of the stairs, only to see Jake and Josh standing at the top, pretending to stick their fingers down their throats, and puke on her. 

"I hate you!" she said throwing one of her slippers at them, and missing by a foot.

"We're not the one dating Ephram's biggest enemy."

Suddenly Kelly's head popped out of the doorway to the spare bedroom. "Who's dating the tall stupid guy?"

"No one. Now go back to sleep," Josh said pushing her back inside and shutting the door on her. 

"You both suck." She called up the stairs, before heading to the kitchen.

"Suck what?" the twins said following her

"I'm just going to ignore that," she said. 

Kayliegh turned to the two boys that had just entered. "The two of you go back upstairs and tell everyone else to get their asses out of bed, and that as soon as they get down here they can have coffee then we're going to Mama Joy's for breakfast because Dr. Brown went to work but left us money."

They two boy sprinted back up the stairs. The three teens still downstairs heard a lot of crashing and yelling upstairs, and then in a record (for them at least) two minutes, everyone was downstairs and drinking coffee. Most of them were still in their pajamas, but at least they were awake. 

*****

[A/N: Sorry this took so long. Between my homework, drama club, anime club, and GSA I've been rather busy lately. I was planning on finishing/posting this by the middle of last week, however, that didn't happen. I hope you enjoyed this. A look to the future: A softer side of Bright; Bright and Ephram face off. Okay that's all for now.]


	9. A Softer Side At Least For A While

Disclaimer: Okay you guys should know the drill by now. And the song isn't mine. It's called "How Does It Feel" by Sugarcult.

[A/N: There is one really bad word in this chapter. I swear, I didn't put in there. It's in the song. Sorry guys.]

**Chapter 9: A Softer Side… At Least For Awhile**

It was Friday night. It had been hours since Bright had asked Amber out, but it was still all she could talk about. She was in the guest room with the other girls talking it over. The boys were all in Ephram's room, not talking about it. They all knew that Ephram had issues with Bright, and they didn't want to chance getting something thrown at them. 

"Eph, have you gotten any new CD's since you moved here?" asked Skuzzy.

"Yeah, they're in the back of my CD case," he responded, without much emotion. He was upset about Amber. He was also, immersed in X/1999. 

"Where is it?"

"Against the wall on the left, bottom shelf of the bookcase."

"Got it. Okay, lets see what's in here. The Ataris. I got that for my birthday. The All-American Rejects. I stole that from Kay. Don't tell her. I'm in the process of burning a copy for myself and giving it back to her. Good Charlotte? I don't know why you have that, but I don't want it."

"It's actually not that bad."

"Whatever you say. What else is in here? Simon and Milo?"

"Oh, that's Delia's. It's not bad, but I don't want it. I don't even know why it's in there. Take it out, I'll give it back to her later."

"Okay. Um… let's see, I think I have all the rest of these… except this one. Sugarcult? Is it any good?" 

"Yeah, you'd like it. Here let me see." Ephram took the CD from Skuzzy, and put it in his stereo. He hit a few buttons and within moments rock music filled the room.

_Well I'm back in the class_

_Falling out of your past_

_All the letters that I wrote_

_And you thought as a joke_

_And the phone never rings_

_When you're cold and it stings_

_All the holidays suck_

_By myself 'cause I am fucked_

_And I'm dying, dying, dying_

_So how does it feel?_

_How does it feel?_

_'Cause it's tearing me apart_

_How does it feel?_

_How does it feel?_

_'Cause it's tearing me apart_

By the time the song was over all the girls had joined them in Ephram's room. 

"That's awesome. Where'd you get it?" Taylor asked.

"This kid at school, Wendell. He's all right. Sorta weird though."

"Burn me a copy!" Bryan called out.

"Yeah, me too," they all said. 

Kayliegh was looking at the shelf of the books nearest her. On that shelf there were picture frames. Most of them were empty, but there were four that jumped out at her. One held a picture of Amy. It looked like a school photo. The second had a picture of the group of them in Ephram's living room in New York. The third held a picture of Julia Brown. The fourth photo was of a girl she didn't recognize, a beautiful brunette with greenish-blue eyes, and her arms wrapped around Ephram.  

She picked up the picture and looked at it for a moment. "Hey Eph, who's this?"

He over at her to see what she was talking about. "That's me," he replied calmly.

"I meant the girl, moron." This attracted everyone else's attention. They wanted to know who the mystery girl was. 

~*Flashback*~

Ephram and Jordan were outside his house one day fooling around when Delia came outside too. She had something in her hand but it was hard to tell what it was. Or at least it was until she whipped it out and started trying to take pictures of her brother, and his friend. 

"Delia put the camera away!" Ephram yelled. He hated it when she did this. 

"Ephram, come on. She's your sister; she wants a picture of you. How can you deny her of this?" Jordan said. Ephram was getting the feeling that they had planned this. 

"Fine. Delia, you can take one picture, and make it good."

"Can Jordan be in it too?" Delia asked.

"I suppose," he sighed. Jordan smacked him in the arm, and then stood next to him.

"Well, if you want Jordan in it, we may as well make it look good." Ephram pulled the girl into a hug, and looked over at his little sister, who promptly took the picture.

~*End of Flashback*~

"A friend, her name's Jordan," he said, hoping they would leave it at that. But he knew they wouldn't. He knew his friends all too well. 

"Well, when do we get to meet this friend?" Kelly asked. 

"You won't. She moved." He knew that he was lying to them. _What they don't know can't hurt them, he thought. _

"Too bad," Jake said. Amber smacked him.

"Get a grip Jake!"

*****

"Molly! Where did I put my jeans with the lips on the butt?"

"In the top pocket of Kay's bag I think." 

"Kay, where's your bag?" 

"In Eph's room. Just kick Bryan in the shins if he's still looking for his Gravitation manga. He left it at home, but he's not listening to me when I tell him that." A moment later there was a thud, a yelp, and Amber yelled, "It's not in there, dumbass!"

Saturday afternoon Amber was running around the house trying to collect random items she needed to get ready for her date that night. Everyone else was either sitting in the living room, or helping Amber look. Ephram was moping. He couldn't believe one of his best friends was going out with his worst enemy. 

"What the hell did I do with my 'Ooh la la' shirt?" 

"Jake took it and hide it under Ephram's bed," Josh said. 

"Jake I'm going to hurt you!" Amber yelled over her shoulder.   
  


Jake threw a couch pillow at his brother. "If it makes you feel better I did it because you look hot in that shirt and didn't want moron-boy to get any ideas." 

"Jake that's so sweet, in a sick, disgusting way," Amber said coming back into the room. "But thanks all the same." 

Amber walked into the bathroom. "Hey, Kelly. Come help me. And bring your make-up bag." 

"Now she can't even put on her own make-up? I swear I'm getting ready to shoot her," Kelly muttered, walking towards the bathroom. 

"Join the club," Ephram murmured. He didn't think anyone had heard him, but Kayliegh had been listening. 

"Ephram, I'm thirsty. Why don't you come show me where you keep the soda," she said. 

"In the fridge, just like they were in New York."

"Ephram, I need you to _show me," she glared at him until he looked up and realized that she wanted to talk to him. _

"Okay, fine." He pulled himself upright and followed her into the kitchen.

"What do you want Kay? I have sorrow to wallow in."

"That's the thing Eph. I'm trying really hard to figure out what this so called sorrow is. Amber is one of your best friends. She hasn't had a date in like a year, probably more. You should be happy for her, and yet your not. You're pulling off the broody, apathy-filled Ephram that SHOULD have gone away long, long ago."

"Yeah, but her 'date' is Bright Abbott. He was unbelievably mean to me when I got here. He ripped one of my mangas in half and then gave me a black eye. When Colin, his best friend and Amy's boyfriend, died, he beat me up trying me up to keep me away from Amy. He's never been nice to me. And as if that's not bad enough I'm in love with his sister. It's just not fair. If she really wanted a boyfriend why couldn't she go out with Skuzzy? I mean he's liked her since like eighth grade."

"First, she went with Skuzzy?"

"Really? When?"

"Right after you left, however that's not the point. Eph, listen to me. I love you, and Amber loves you, and the rest of us love you. But you really need to get over it. Bright is just a big bully. I'll bet he always been, and he probably always will be. But you know what, if you saw her smile when she talks about him, none of this crap would matter anymore. And as for this whole thing with Amy, she still loves you so just ask her out."

"She does? How do you know?"

"Amy told Bright, Bright told Amber, and Amber told me. We weren't supposed to tell you, but I've been here three days and I'm already sick of this thing between you two. I can't even imagine living here."

"Really? So she likes me?"

"Yeah, now get over it. And please, for the love of god give up on this thing with Bright." 

"Alright. Fine." And with that he turned and walked out of the room. Kayliegh followed him. "You're sure she likes me?"

"Call her if you want."

*****

Finally, after much waiting, and whining from Amber, Saturday night came, and with it came Bright. Amber had to beat the crap out of all the boys to stop them from acting like her father, and then with that done, she left. 

Once they were in the car, Amber turned to Bright and asked "So where are we going tonight?"

"Well, I was going to take you to the diner, but then my friend Dave called me last night and he told me he's having a party tonight, so I thought that we could go to that, if that's okay. If not we could still go to the diner. I really don't care."

"No, the party's cool. It'll be interesting to see what you small town people think a party is."

"Oh, you think you know what really partying is?" he said playfully. 

"I'm from New York City, I defiantly know what real partying is."

"Well, then lets see if this is… up to your standards."

* 

Two hours and countless beers later Amber was still standing. This amazed Bright. "Are you sure you're going to be alright?"

"Hun, I'm Irish, and a New Yorker. I can hold my liquor. It's you I'm worried about." 

"Me? I haven't had that much. I want to be able to drive home."

"Okay…"

"What? You don't believe me?"

"Not really."

"Well, too bad. I wouldn't lie to you."

"Whatever. So tell me, anything interesting happen around here lately that I should know about?"

Bright thought for a minute. "Well, there was that car crash last week."

"A car crash huh?"

"Yeah, Ephram's girlfriend was in it. She died. Her baby too."

"Wait… Ephram's girlfriend… had a baby… and they both died?"

"Yeah, it was really sad." 

"What was the girls name?"

"Uh… Jordan something."

Amber stood there in shock for a second. "Bright, can you take me home?"

"Sure…"

* 

The house was dark when Amber got home, but she knew that her friends were all still awake. She quickly said goodbye to Bright, then ran up the front steps. Someone had had enough sense to leave the door unlocked so she could get in. She opened the door and closed it silently behind her. She stood in the darkness until her eyes adjusted, then made her way upstairs. Instead of going to the guest room like she was supposed to, she went straight to Ephram's room. She opened the door as quietly as possible, at least until she whacked Josh with it. "Sorry, Josh," she whispered. As soon as the door was closed she started to yell. "Ephram Brown what the hell is wrong with you!!!" 

"What did I do now?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what? Amber, it's late, your drunk, and not making any sense. Go to bed." 

"Why didn't you tell me what happened last week? You know Bright told me? It started to make sense when he said last week. I remembered that Amy said you hadn't been answering the phone. That's what you do when you're sad. Then he said car crash. That confused me, but I let it slip. But then the words girlfriend, baby, and died, came into play. It sort of started to make sense. But it all became so clear when he gave me a name. Jordan. WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!!!!" 

Jake whispered in Josh's ear. "Is she making any sense to you?" Josh shook his head. 

"Amber, I can explain it all."

"How Ephram? How are you going to explain to me why you didn't tell me about the car crash that killed your girlfriend and your baby?"

By now the other girls had noticed Amber's yelling, and come to find out what was going on.

"Eph, what's she talking about?" Taylor asked. 

"Guys, I'll explain it all in the morning." 

"NO! Ephram, you can't do that. You're going to tell us NOW!" Amber said.

"LEAVE ME ALONE! I'LL TELL YOU IN THE MORNING!" he yelled. 

He had scared even the very persistent Amber. They said their good nights and went to bed, all of them wondering what was going on.

*****

[A/N: That's it for this chapter. In the next, he explains what really happened to Jordan. See you all later.] 


End file.
